Cadeaux de Dieu Furaha, a Muhanga-born basketballer is a man with an amazing basketball story. Basketball changed his life; giving him the opportunity to receive a first class education for free, in the USA. And he hopes for even greater things.

The game has taken him to so many awesome places that most youths in Muhanga – a district in Rwanda’s Southern Province – don’t get the opportunity to see, and offered him the opportunity to have friends in America and elsewhere.

ALSO READ: U.S-based Furaha named &039;Christmas Tourney' MVP

Born in 1998 and raised by a single mother whom he refers to as his hero, Furaha grew up playing football for almost his entire childhood. He started playing basketball in his first year in secondary school, in 2012. And, since then, the game has made a huge impact in his life.

Furaha is now based in the US where he relocated, back in 2016, because of his basketball talent.

"So far, basketball has been my whole life. If you ask me to describe my life, I would say basketball because I don't know anything else besides the game,” he told Times Sport from his home in Fort Smith, a city on the Arkansas River, in northwest Arkansas.

Furaha left Rwanda in August 2016 as one of the five players who benefited from a fully sponsored scholarship at American colleges after proving their potential during the 2016 FIBA-Africa U18 Youth Championship held in Kigali.

He has played for teams including the New Mexico Military Institute, Abilene Christian University, and the University of Arkansas Fort Smith, and now aims for professional basketball.

His basketball journey started in 2012 through youth camps. At first, his plan was to join a football team, but things changed unexpectedly.

"I went to a camp wanting to play football but because the team list was already full my friends encouraged me to give up but to try to sign up for basketball and once we got there, I would just switch to football,” he recalls.

His friends thought it could be easy to pull off. But things didn’t go as planned.

When he got to the camp, on the second day, the basketball coach refused to allow him to switch.

"I was angry but I didn't have any other choice but to keep going with the basketball team. After that camp year I started being more interested in basketball and started watching some basketball highlights. Basketball was not my dream at that time. Football was my dream. But now, of course, basketball is my dream,” he says.

That was the beginning of the journey that saw him develop to play basketball for Kabgayi secondary school, St Joseph Kabgayi, Eteni Gisenyi, and IPRC Kicukiro secondary school as a youngster.

It was in 2015 that basketball really showed him that it could do something for him. He earned a scholarship to study at Ecole Technique Nazaréenne Internationale, ETENI, in Rubavu district.

All over a sudden, his mother did not have to pay a single franc for his tuition. Better still, before long, the junior national basketball team came calling. That was in 2016.

"I played for the U18 national team in 2016 and it was fun and the best experience.”

Three years later, in 2019, things even got better. He was called up for the senior national team.

National team experience helps you grow

He would, again, get a call for the senior national team, in 2022, but this time, a nagging injury prevented him from having much playing time.

"It's been a good experience so far besides that injury. National team experience helps you grow mentally and physically. It is something that I work hard for, every day, to make sure that when my name is called again, I will be able to represent my country at a high level.”

He wants to play a major role in helping the national team win "as many games as possible.” Furaha dreams of seeing Rwanda playing, and winning, at the Olympics.

Besides God who has been so good to him, Furaha also expressed gratitude to his mother who supported him so much, as well as some key coaches and players.

"I cannot thank anybody but God when it comes to supporting me because he gave me the best mother who always pushed and supported me to play sports and find my joy through sports.”

"When she learned that I started playing basketball, she didn't know anything about it but still, she supported me. The coaches that I met through basketball were also really supportive and did everything they could to make sure I am where I'm right now. These good people include coaches; Moise Mutokambali, Patrick Habiyambere, Karemera, Aime Imena Munyakazi, Aime Rukiramacumu, Didier, Venuste Kamanzi, Eric Nsabimana, and the whole staff of the local basketball federation.”

Furaha’s most inspiring moment is seeing his mother happy.

"When I see her smiling it inspires me to work harder and make sure that that happiness doesn't go away, and make sure that she is always proud of me. The most difficult moment is to live away from my family.”

Which star players inspired him greatly? Furaha still admires former national team captain, Olivier Shyaka, as a personality "that inspired many young professionals on court and beyond.”